Sprint races highlight a special edition of the Golden Gala

Sprint is one of the highlights of this year’s Golden Gala. The star of the meeting will be certainly Asafa Powell who got off to a flying start this year with superb performances. He leads the 2010 world list with his 9.83 set in Ostrava on 26th May on a wet track, but a tail wind of +2.1 m/s in Oslo aided him to a fabulous 9.72 which, however, cannot be ratified. Because of the injury which has momentarily sidelined his compatriot Usain Bolt, Powell is the fastest sprinter in the first part of this season. On Thursday night Powell will face three Jamaican sprinters Frater, Clarke and Forsythe in what promises to be a reggae-time evening. Also to watch out for is French rising star Christophe Lemaitre, who has not turned 20 yet but has already clocked 10.03 this year and is expected to dip under 10 seconds this season. Italy will be represented by Simone Collio, the best Italian sprinter in the first part of this season with a wind-assisted 10.11 (+2.9 m/s) in Doha. The 200 metres race also features an impressive line-up with US sprinter Walter Dix, who clocked 19.89 at the beginning of May, the second fastest this year after Bolt. His compatriot Wallace Spearmon (19.98) also lines up. The Italian interest will be focused on 20-year-old Diego Marani (Riccardi), who clocked 20.99 last Sunday in Florence against a strong head wind of -1.8 m/s. The 400 metres line-up is also remarkable. US Jeremy Wariner, more times medallist at major championships, who holds the Rome meeting record with 43.62, leads the starting list. Wariner, who won the Shanghai Diamond League, is aiming at the first 45 seconds time of the season in a race which features Bahamas’ Chris Brown and US David Neville and Angelo Taylor who scored the Olympic double in the 400 metres hurdles in Sydney and Bejing and is very strong over the flat distance (world bronze medallist in 2007 in Osaka). Claudio Licciardello (Fiamme Gialle), the 2009 European Indoor silver medallist, also starts in the one-lap event, looking to bounce back after the physical problems he suffered last summer. This year Licciardello clocked 46.13 in windy conditions at the European Club Championships in Vila Real de Santo Antonio.

The 110 metres hurdles sprint race features world record holder and Olympic champion Dayron Robles, who produced one of the most impressive performances this year when he clocked 13.12 in pouring rain in Ostrava beating his rivals by a huge margin. After falling in Hengelo where he again faced rain and cold conditions, the Cuban seems ready to steal the show which has been now stripped by US David Oliver who set the world leading time with 12.99.

The meeting will be capped with a 4×100 relay race which has been rarely contested at the Golden Gala but has always offered a great show. The line-up features a Jamaican team (which may line up Powell), while two Italian squads assembled by National sprint coach Filippo Di Mulo, will fight for spots in the Italian team for the European Team Championships in Bergen (19th – 20th June).

Among women, the stand-out name is Jamaican sprinter Shelly Ann Fraser, already Olympic and world champion in the 100 metres. Her season has not been lucky so far as regards weather conditions because her fastest time this year (11.04) was set in rainy conditions in Ostrava. It’s likely that she considerably improves her seasonal best on the fast track of the Olympic Stadium (here Kerron Stewart clocked a sensational 10.75 last year). It will be a Central-North American line-up led by Chandra Sturrup (Bahamas) and three US sprinters (Lashauntea Moore, Gloria Asumnu and Mikele Barber). In the 400 metres hurdles all eyes wiil be focused on US Lashinda Demus, who clocked 53.34 in 2010 in a race which does not feature reigning world and Olympic champion Melaine Walker from Jamaica, who is sidelined by injury problems. Also in the line-up there are Russian Nataliya Antyukh, Jamaican Kaliese Spencer and Pole Anna Jesien, who is always able to produce strong finishes.